2017 Ford Super Duty first drive: The king of torque

Ford Super Duty pickup truck line gets the aluminum treatment

August 2, 2016

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The torque is what everyone will talk about. The all-new Ford Super Duty, when optioned with the revised 6.7-liter Power Stroke turbo-diesel, puts down 925 lb-ft of torque. That’s within striking distance of four figures and closing in on 18-wheeler levels of twist. That’s staggering. But the new ‘Duty is much more than just an insanely torquey engine bolted to an old chassis. This is a complete and thorough overhaul of the previous truck.

Ford’s heavy-duty pickup line was in desperate need of modernization. Yes, the old Super Duty has aged well, but the basic bones of that truck date all the way back to 1999. Oddly, its age never hurt sales -- Ford doesn’t just dominate the heavy-duty segment, it crushes it. Even now, at the end of its lifespan, the Super Duty truck line maintains a healthy lead over the competition.

“Our share right now if we take both retail and fleet is about 42 percent of the heavy duty (over 8,500 GVW) market,” says Doug Scott, Ford Truck Group's marketing manager. “And we’re trending for over 800,000 total F-Series sales this year.” To call the outgoing Super Duty a success would be a gross understatement.

Life for Ford’s competition isn’t about to get any easier. Under the hood, the updated turbo-diesel V8 achieves its knockout torque punch with some subtle upgrades. The bump comes from a new turbocharger and downpipe with a lower-restriction exhaust, combined with new fuel injectors (more fuel flow) and increased airflow. The increased torque required larger drivetrain components like a new transfer case on four-wheel-drive models, larger drive shafts with higher-capacity U-joints as well axles with thicker axle shafts and bigger ring gears.

Base Super Duty models receive an updated 6.2-liter gas V8 with a solid 385 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. But no matter which engine is selected, they are both mated to six-speed automatics. It’s no secret that GM and Ford have partnered and shared engineering on a variety of transmissions, and a heavy-duty truck transmission with more than six gears is reportedly in development too.

The core of this all-new Super Duty is the massive frame. The new architecture is fully boxed from front to rear and fashioned from 95 percent high-strength steel. It’s a whopping 24 times stiffer than the old frame and about 70-100 pounds heavier, depending on the wheelbase. Peek underneath a new Super Duty and the frame certainly resembles something meant for a much larger truck. The frame rails are 1.5 inches taller than before and even the cross members, which are now closed-section units, are so beefy they look like they could almost serve as frame rails on a smaller truck.

One of the smartest innovations here is the tow hitch system, available for 2.5- and 3-inch setups. These hitches are built into the frame and extend so far underneath the truck (and use so much high-strength steel) that weight-equalizing bars are no longer required to handle the maximum tow capacity. That will save Super Duty owners a lot of time and effort when hitching up.

Just like the Super Duty’s little brother, the F-150, Ford is using an aluminum alloy for the cab, bed and front clip. And for the first time, Ford is sharing the cab structure with the F-150. The door designs are identical, as are most of the interior parts. The only differences between F-150 and Super Duty we noticed on the inside were the overhead upfitter switches and the dual glove box. Sharing the cab means the new Super Duty is roomier than the outgoing model and rides on a longer wheelbase. The Crew Cab model, for example, is about 4 inches longer than the old Super Duty cab. But sharing a cab architecture, Ford’s Scott says, means the cadence of updates will happen more rapidly for both trucks in the future -- when new tech is available, it can flow smoothly into both rigs.

Of course, the aluminum bodywork is lighter than the outgoing steel cab, hood and bed structure. Ford says the weight difference is about 500 pounds. But because much of that weight was “reinvested” into the heavier frame as well as more robust drivetrain components and a larger 48-gallon fuel tank on Crew Cab models, the new trucks aren’t exactly featherweights. The base curb weight for a 2017 F-250 Supercab 4WD short box, for example, is 6,372 pounds. That’s just under 200 lbs. lighter than the old version of the same model.

That aluminum bodywork is not only lighter but slicker than before too. Ford says the new Super Duty’s body is about 5 percent more aerodynamic, which should help boost fuel economy. Though the Super Duty’s bed is made out of the same aluminum alloy as the F-150, it’s built to handle tougher jobs. The Super Duty’s bed crossmembers are 45-percent thicker than the F-150 and the gauge of the metal used in the entire bed has increased by 20 percent.

Ford truck traditionalists will be happy to hear there is no great revolution in suspension design. Two-wheel drive trucks will continue to use an upgraded version of Ford’s Twin I-Beam independent front suspension (which dates back more than 50 years). And 4WD trucks retain Ford’s coil-spring, radius arm solid axle front suspension. And both models use leaf springs on either side of the rear axle. Though the suspension systems look unchanged to the casual observer, engineers tell us there is no part that has been left untouched. In the rear, the spring hangers have been lowered slightly to create more roll understeer. Ford engineers say this adds stability in fully loaded conditions. Up front, those radius arms have been beefed up to handle the new 7,500 gross axle weight rating of the most extreme versions of the truck. And engineers lowered the track bar mount to further increase roll understeer. The ends of the beefier swaybars have been built to accept new collared bushings, which improves lateral stability, important considering that the most capable models of the Super Duty line can handle trailers that weigh up to 32,500 pounds using a gooseneck hitch.

A reader sent in a short video and a couple street shots of what he claims might be the new Ford F-150 Diesel. Judging by the hacked bumper, it’s certainly some sort of engine test ...

The new Super Duty is available in the same five trim levels as before, ranging from bare bones XL up to swanky Platinum models. And it’s loaded with lots of optional technology to help owners work harder with a lot less effort. The towing productivity screen (within the truck’s info system between the gauges) allows the owner to add up to ten trailers and monitor them for how long they’ve been in service as well track the trailer’s tire pressures. The Ultimate Trailer Tow Camera System ($710) is one of the smartest options. It includes seven cameras designed to help guide, hook up, back and tow just about any trailer.

The blind spot warning system ($540) extends beyond the truck itself to the entire length of the trailer and includes cross traffic alert. Since the Super Duty still uses hydraulic steering (Ford says a fully electric system isn’t stout enough for heavy duty use), the Pro Trailer Backup Assist system that allows F-150 owners to back a trailer by steering with a small knob on the dash isn’t available on the Super Duty. However, luxury tech like adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist and full LED lighting (including the bed) are all available on the new truck.

What's it like to drive?

The gasoline-fueled 6.2-liter V8 is an excellent standard powerplant, but lay into the throttle of any Super Duty with that glorious Power Stroke diesel, and the speedometer spins around past the legal limit far more quickly than any diesel truck we’ve ever experienced. This machine is a beast. We sampled the powertrain in a regular cab F-250 4x4 and it felt more like a muscle truck than a work machine that can handle nearly 3,000 pounds in its bed and tow 10,000 pounds. It was quick. Ford says around two-thirds of non-commercial buyers will opt for the $8,595 diesel powertrain -- we wouldn’t be surprised if that number grows after sampling this engine.

But no matter which V8 is bolted between the frame rails, every Super Duty is far more agile, connected and refined than before. Sure, that weight loss has something to do with it. But the improvements to the suspension and frame as well as a new steering system make a big difference. The steering ratio is now quicker on longer-wheelbase models and the feel is much more precise. The weighting is heavier but all the slop and play we remember in the old truck has been removed. Ford’s optional adaptive steering system can manipulate the steering ratio to reduce the input needed at slow speeds and reduce sensitivity at highways speeds. It even ties into the tow/haul mode of the transmission to provide a steering mode specifically for trailering stability. The system is worth every bit of the $685 Ford asks for it. No matter which steering system is behind the Super Duty, on a twisty road, these trucks can be driven much more accurately than before. And when towing a trailer -- that’s a big benefit.

We had a chance to sample a $73,685 Crew Cab F-350 Dually 4x4 Lariat with the diesel and 4.10:1 gears hooked to a 10,000-pound gooseneck horse trailer. The Super Duty moved the load effortlessly, actually accelerating up grades shy of wide-open throttle. More importantly, the truck made the load feel far lighter than it was, and that gave us quite a bit of confidence -- as did the fact that this truck, as configured, could tow three times the weight we had hitched to it. But just in case that trailer did get out of shape on a twisty road, Ford engineers told us they have re-tuned the trailer sway control system on the new trucks to intervene more quickly but less aggressively.

The Super Duty is far more comfortable on rough roads too, with none of the cab quake the old truck had. Part of that comes from the improved suspension and the stiffer cab, but most of the credit is actually due to how that cab is mounted. Ford now uses hydraulic rear cab mounts, which act as small shock absorbers to damp out forces the suspension simply cannot correct for. And on a rough dirt road, the whole truck feels tighter.

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Do I want it?

The new Super Duty is a vast improvement over the outgoing machine. The quiet and smooth Power Stroke diesel leads the class with 925 lb-ft of torque, and Ford offers technology available on no other heavy duty pickup. The added capability is paired with a drive experience that offers more comfort and far better handling than any Super Duty before, and that’s something every heavy duty pickup truck buyer can appreciate.

If there's a downside, it's that you can only build and price, not drive, for the moment: The 2017 Super Duty configurator is live now on Ford’s website but trucks won’t be delivered until the fall.